Loyola High School senior service project at 35

Loyola High School of Los Angeles, the oldest continually operated educational institution in Southern California, marked 35 years of its senior service project.

More than 300 seniors volunteered at inner-city hospitals, special education schools, soup kitchens, centers for battered women and shelters from Jan. 5-22, working more than six hours a day at 85 service sites in metro Los Angeles.

Bishop Gordon Bennett, SJ ’64, who founded Loyola’s Senior Service Project while he served as principal at the Jesuit prep school, was the guest speaker at the Jan. 22 closing. He gave a historical perspective of the project and its long-standing effect on Los Angeles.

“From the day our students enter Loyola as freshmen, they are asked to be men for others,” said Jesuit Father Gregory Goethals, ’73, president of Loyola High School. “The senior service project is the culmination of their Loyola education as these young men give back for all that they have received.”

The three-week program includes weekly reflections back at Loyola, organized in groups of six to eight seniors, moderated by a faculty or staff member. Once students have completed the program, they create an individual presentation on their service site.